Low depth crate

ABSTRACT

A crate includes a base, a pair of opposed side walls extending upward from the sides of the base and a pair of end walls extending upward from ends of the base. The end walls each include a pair of spaced apart end columns that act as partial spacers between the three adjacent bottles at that end. The handles are aligned offset from the center of the end wall. The handles are each aligned with one of the end columns so they can be aligned (e.g. centered) between adjacent bottles to provide more space for a user&#39;s hand. The handles may extend from one end column, over the other end column to the corner column. In the embodiment shown, the handles may be each offset toward a different side wall to provide better balance of the weight of the crate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to crates and more particularlyto crates for carrying beverage containers, such as bottles.

Many designs for crates for carrying beverage containers are known. Somecrates include a base having a pair of opposed side walls and a pair ofopposed end walls extending upwardly from the periphery of the base. Forcrates carrying smaller containers, e.g., approximately 16 to 24 ouncebottles, the bottles are typically arranged in a 4×6 arrangement, withfour bottles arranged along each end wall. In this arrangement, thecenter of the handle is aligned between two of the bottles, thusproviding sufficient room for the fingers of the user's hand graspingthe handle. However, with bottles arranged with an odd number of bottles(e.g. three bottles) along each end wall, one of the bottles is alignedwith the center of the handle, thus reducing the amount of space for theuser's fingers. This is more typically done with larger bottles, such as28 oz, 32 oz, 1 liter or 1.25 liter bottles, or larger.

Therefore, with an odd number of bottles along the end wall, the handleis moved outward from the bottle to increase the space for the user'sfingers; however, this has drawbacks. First, the overall footprint ofthe crate is increased in that dimension. Second, if the crate isintended to be capable of cross-stacking, a certain ratio oflength-to-width of the crate must be maintained. Therefore, the width ofthe crate must be increased as a result of moving the handle outward,further increasing the footprint. As another result of the increasedwidth of the crate, bottle capture areas (recesses) on the bottom of thecrate must be eliminated or opened up in order to accept the bottle capsof bottles of a crate cross-stacked therebelow. The bottle capturerecesses may not fully capture the caps of the bottles and thus notprovide stacking that is as stable as fully-captured bottles.

This problem is even more difficult with a high-band beverage cratehaving a band at the upper edges of columns In a high-band crate, thebase of the crate must be able to nest into an identical crate below, sobase has a smaller footprint than the upper edges of the band, leavingeven less room for bottle capture on the bottom of the crate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A crate according to one embodiment of the present invention includes abase, a pair of opposed side walls extending upward from the sides ofthe base and a pair of end walls extending upward from ends of the base.The end walls each include a pair of spaced apart end columns that actas partial spacers between the three adjacent bottles at that end. Thehandles are aligned off the center of the end wall. The handles are eachaligned with one of the end columns so they can be aligned (e.g.centered) between adjacent bottles to provide more space for a user'shand. The handles may extend from one end column, over the other endcolumn to the corner column In the embodiment shown, the handles may beeach offset toward a different side wall to provide better balance ofthe weight of the crate.

The height of each handle may be aligned with a portion of the bottlehaving a reduced diameter. For example, some bottles have a tapered orcontoured middle portion to facilitate grasping the bottle. By aligningthe height of the handle with the taper or contour, the space for theuser's hand may be further increased.

The arrangement of the handles off-center allows the handle to be movedinward, which reduces the overall length of the crate. The reducedlength of the crate then permits a reduced width of the crate per therequired ratio for cross-stacking. The reduced width then permits a fullbottle capture on the bottom surface of the crate.

These and other features of the application can be best understood fromthe following specification and drawings, the following of which is abrief description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a crate according to one embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the crate of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the crate of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the crate of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an end view of the crate of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the crate of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the crate nested with an identicalcrate.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the crates of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an end view of the crates of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 illustrates the crate of FIG. 1 loaded with bottles.

FIG. 11 illustrates a user's hand grasping one of the handles of thecrate of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is an end perspective view of the crate and bottles of FIG. 10.

FIG. 13 is an end view of the crate and bottles of FIG. 10.

FIG. 14 is a side view of the crate and bottles of FIG. 10.

FIG. 15 is a top view of the crate and bottles of FIG. 10.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the crate of FIG. 1 cross stacked on anidentical crate loaded with bottles.

FIG. 17 is a side view of the crates and bottles of FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 is an end view of the crates and bottles of FIG. 16.

FIG. 19 is a top view of the crates and bottles of FIG. 16.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A crate 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention is shownin FIG. 1. The crate 10 includes a base 12, which may include aplurality of interconnected ribs. The crate 10 further includes a pairof opposed side walls 14 extending upward from side edges of the base12. End walls 16 extend upward from end edges of the base 12. The crateinterior is defined between the side walls 14 and end walls 16. The sidewalls 14 and end walls 16 include an upper band portion 18 and a lowerwall portion 20.

A plurality of side columns 22 project upwardly from the base 12 to theupper band portion 18. Upper side column portions 23 continue upward andproject inward from the upper band portion 18, aligned above the sidecolumns 22. Corner columns 24 project upwardly from the base 12 at theintersection of the end walls 16 and side walls 14.

End columns 26 and 28 project upwardly from the base 12. In each endwall 16. Each end column 26 is aligned below a handle opening 30 in eachend wall 16. A lower handle portion 32 extends from each end column 28across the adjacent end column 26 and connects to the corner column 24.The end columns 26, 28 are tapered toward the interior of the crate 10.Upper column portions 29 project inward from the upper band portion 18.

This alignment maximizes space for the user's hand. By aligning thehandle with the column 26, the handle is aligned with the column 26 thatis positioned between the bottles. The handles 30 may be offset relativeto one another. The handles 30 may be offset off the center of each endwall 16. As shown, the handles 30 may be offset toward opposite sidewalls to balance the load in the crate 10 when it is loaded and beinglifted and carried by a user's two hands (one in each handle opening30).

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the crate 10. As shown, the base12 includes a plurality of bottle-receiving recesses 38 for receivingthe cap of a bottle on which the crate 10 is stacked. Eachbottle-receiving recess 38 is completely circumscribed by a capture rib40. In this embodiment, the bottle-receiving recesses 38 are arranged inthree rows (i.e. with three bottle-receiving recesses 38 alignedadjacent each end wall), but the advantages of the invention would beuseful for any odd number of rows). In this embodiment, thebottle-receiving recesses 38 are arranged in a 3×5 array on theunderside of the base 12. Each capture rib 40 captures a bottle cap of abottle on which the crate 10 is stacked. Obviously, the capture rib 40does not need to be completely continuous, as small breaks in thecapture rib 40 would not affect its function. In the disclosed crate 10,the capture rib 40 is able to include portions at the periphery of thecrate 10 because of the minimal footprint of the crate 10 relative tothe bottles themselves. The capture rib 40 does not have breaks alongthe periphery of the base 12 that are larger than the caps of thebottles to be received.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the crate 10. As shown, the handles 30 arepositioned at the outer periphery of the footprint of the crate 10. Asis also shown in FIG. 3 (which is to scale), the ratio of the length(end to end) of the footprint of the crate 10 relative to the width(side to side) is the same as the bottle ratio, in this example, 5×3.Other ratios could also be used (such as 4×3), but the benefit isprimarily for an odd number of bottles along the end walls 16. Again,one handle 30 is offset toward one side wall 14 while the other handle30 is offset toward the opposite side wall 14.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the crate 10. Again, the base 12 includes thebottle-receiving recess 38 which may be each completely circumscribed byone of the capture ribs 40.

FIG. 5 is an end view of the crate 10. Each handle 30 includes anopening defined between the lower handle portion 32 and an upper handleportion 33. The handle 30 is aligned with a valley 34 in the upper bandportion 18. The upper handle portion 33 includes a convex lower surfacefor increased user comfort. The curve in the lower surface of the upperhandle portion 33 is similar to the curve in the uppermost surface ofupper band portion 18 of the end wall 16 just above the handle 30. Thevalley 34 in the upper band portion 18 moves the handle 30 downward toalign to a narrower portion of the bottles, as described further below.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the crate 10. The upper band portion 18includes a wave shape including a center peak portion 42, end peakportions 44 and valley portions 46 between the center peak portion 42and each end peak portion 44. The uppermost and lowermost edges of theupper band portion 18 follow this same path and define the wave shape ofthe upper band portion 18 on the side walls 14. In this embodiment, theupper band portion 18 is 3.25″ tall from the upper edge to the loweredge, but taking into account the wave shape, it is 3.5″ from peak topeak. This provides an increased contact surface on the sides of thecrate 10 for grasping with equipment (such as the Tygard Claw). Thelarge upper band portion 18 reduces the height of the lower wall portion20. The taper on the lower wall portion 20 (due to mold constraints)causes the base 12 to get smaller as the lower wall portion 20 getstaller. Therefore, the large upper band portion 18 and the relativelyshort lower wall portion 20 further contribute to the full bottle capcapture on the base 12.

FIG. 7 shows the crate 10 nested with an identical crate 10. The lowerwall portion 20 of the upper crate 10 is received between the upper bandportion 18 of the lower crate 10. This reduces the overall stackingheight of the empty crates 10. The matched wave shapes of the upper bandportions 18 of the crates fit together, such that peaks in the uppersurface of the upper band portion 18 of the lower crate 10 are receivedin recesses in the lower most edge of the upper band portion 18 of theupper crate 10. FIG. 8 is a side view of the crates 10 of FIG. 7. FIG. 9is an end view of the crates 10 of FIG. 7. As shown in FIGS. 7-9, thelower wall portion 20 of the upper crate 10 nests completely within theupper band portion 18 of the lower crate 10.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the crate 10 with a plurality ofbottles 50 stored therein. As shown, one of the bottles 50 abuts the endcolumns 26. The bottles 50 in this example are 1 liter and include abody 52 having a middle portion of reduced diameter 58 (FIG. 11)relative to portions of the body 52 below and above. The bottle 50further includes a neck portion 54 on which is secured a bottle cap 56.

As shown in FIG. 11, the handle 30 is aligned (centered) between two ofthe three end bottles 50, such that the user will have more room fortheir hand. The handle 30 of the crate 10 may also be vertically alignedwith the portion of reduced diameter 58 of the bottle 50. These factorspermit the handle 30 to be moved inward toward the interior of the crate10 and reduce the footprint of the crate 10. There is a gap between theinner surface of upper handle portion 33 and the reduced portion 58 ofthe adjacent bottles 50 in which the user can place their fingers whengrasping the handle 30.

FIG. 12 is an end perspective view of the crate 10 and bottles 50.Because the upper band portion 18 dips down, the handle opening ispositioned to permit a barcode scanner to read a barcode on one of thebottles 50 through the handle opening.

FIG. 13 is an end view of the crate 10 and bottles 50. FIG. 14 is a sideview of the crate 10 and bottles 50. FIG. 15 is a top view of the crate10 and bottles 50.

The caps 56 of the bottles 50 of a crate 10 would be received within thecapture ribs 40 of the crate 10 stacked or cross-stacked thereon. With a3×5 arrangement, the cross-stacking is more complicated than a 2×4arrangement, but the cross-stacking arrangements are known and areaccommodated by the capture ribs 32 of the crate 10.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the crate 10 of FIG. 1 cross stacked onan identical crate 10 loaded with bottles 50. FIG. 17 is a side view ofthe crates 10 and bottles 50 of FIG. 16. FIG. 18 is an end view. Thebottle caps 56 of the bottles 50 in the lower tray 10 are received inthe bottle-receiving recesses 38 each within the capture ribs 40. FIG.19 is a top view of the crates 10 and bottles 50 of FIG. 19. As can beseen in FIG. 18, the bottle caps 56 of the bottles 50 in the lower tray10 are received in the bottle-receiving recesses 38 each within thecapture ribs 40.

As is known, the crates 10 are injection molded as a single piece of asuitable plastic, such as polypropylene, polyethylene or other suitablematerial.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes andjurisprudence, exemplary configurations described above are consideredto represent a preferred embodiment of the invention. However, it shouldbe noted that the invention can be practiced otherwise than asspecifically illustrated and described without departing from its spiritor scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A nestable crate comprising: a base havingopposed side edges and opposed end edges, the base having an array ofbottle capture areas on an underside thereof including an odd number ofbottle capture areas adjacent each end edge; a plurality of side columnsextending upward from each of the side edges of the base; at least oneend column extending upward from one of the end edges of the base; andan upper band portion at an upper end of the at least one end column, ahandle formed in the upper band portion above the at least one endcolumn.
 2. The crate of claim 1 wherein the upper band portion includesa valley aligned with the handle.
 3. The crate of claim 1 wherein thehandle includes an opening between an upper handle portion and a lowerhandle portion, the upper handle portion including a convex lowersurface.
 4. The crate of claim 3 wherein the lower handle portion isconnected to the base via the at least one end column.
 5. The crate ofclaim 4 wherein the lower handle portion curves downward and can bereceived in the valley of an upper handle portion of an identical cratein which the crate is nested.
 6. The crate of claim 1 wherein the upperband portion extends along upper ends of the plurality of side columnsand the upper band portion includes at least one valley portion and atleast one peak portion.
 7. The crate of claim 1 wherein the bottlecapture areas are at least partially circumscribed by capture ribs andwherein the capture ribs do not have any breaks along a periphery of thebase.
 8. A nestable crate comprising: a base; a pair of opposed sidewalls extending upward the base, a longitudinal centerline of the crateequally spaced between the side walls; and a pair of opposed end wallsextending upward from the base, each end wall having a handle formedtherein, wherein the handles are offset from the longitudinal centerlineof the crate.
 9. The crate of claim 8 wherein the base has an array ofbottle capture areas on an underside thereof including an odd number ofbottle capture areas adjacent each end wall.
 10. The crate of claim 9wherein the handles are aligned between two of the bottle capture areasadjacent the respective end walls of the crate.
 11. The crate of claim 8wherein one of the handles is offset toward one of the side walls andthe other of the handles is offset toward the other of the handles. 12.The crate of claim 11 further including an end column extending from thebase to the handle.
 13. The crate of claim 8 further including aplurality of bottles therein, wherein the bottles have a reduceddiameter portion aligned with the handles.
 14. The crate of claim 8wherein each of the end walls includes at least one end column extendingupward from the base and an upper band portion at an upper end of the atleast one end column.
 15. A nestable crate comprising: a base havingopposed side edges and opposed end edges, the base having an array ofbottle capture areas on an underside thereof including an odd number ofbottle capture areas adjacent each end edge; a plurality of side columnsextending upward from each of the side edges of the base; a plurality ofend columns extending upward from each of the end edges of the base; andan upper band portion extending about a periphery of the crate at upperends of the plurality of end columns and plurality of side columns, ahandle formed in the upper band portion above at least one of theplurality of end columns, a handle opening through the upper bandportion at each end of the crate, wherein the plurality of end columnsand the plurality of side columns are nestable within an upper bandportion of an identical crate, wherein the crate can be cross-stacked onthe identical crate loaded with bottles.
 16. The nestable crate of claim15 wherein the crate is cross-stacked on the identical crate loaded withbottles, with bottle caps of the bottles fully captured by the bottlecapture areas of the crate.
 17. The nestable crate of claim 16 whereinthe handles are each aligned with one of the plurality of end columns atthe respective ends of the crate.
 18. The nestable crate of claim 15wherein one of the handles is offset closer to one of the sides of thecrate and the other of the handles is offset closer to the other of thesides of the crate.
 19. The nestable crate of claim 15 wherein the upperband portion includes a valley aligned with the handles at each end ofthe crate.